Quote:
Originally Posted by deepimpact2
As far as whether it sounds pretentious, my point was that it can still SOUND pretentious to people even if you don't SAY it pretentiously. The fact that you are saying that you are going to law school sometimes makes people think you are being "snooty" or something.
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I understand your point. I just don't think it's a well-taken point.
In a circumstance like you described, where you specifically said it was not said pretentiously but people think you are being snooty, the problem is not that the statement sounds pretentious, but rather that it is perceived as being pretentious. There is a difference -- the same difference as between something being implied and inferred. If it sounds pretentious, then a hearer is being reasonable in assigning pretentiousness to the speaker. If it is said in an unpretentious manner but is nevertheless perceived as pretentious, then a hearer is not reasonable in assigning pretentiousness to the speaker.
In other words, if you tell people you're going to law school in a way that sounds pretentious, it's your problem. If you don't sound pretentious but they perceive pretentiousness anyway, it's their problem.